by Ryk Brown
His family.
It was another confusing aspect of his awakening. As Connor, he had no recollection of his real family. Only that which he had read in a file constructed for him by Doctor Sato and Loki. But now, with the memories of his real family finding their way into his mind…
It was indeed confusing.
Even more confusing was the clarity with which his memories appeared to him. Each and every one of them seemed as though they had happened only moments ago. Every detail, every nuance, every emotion he had felt at the time. And it wasn’t just those of Nathan. It was also those of Connor.
But every now and then, one of Nathan’s worst memories would appear, and it would overwhelm him. Such death and destruction he had witnessed. So much suffering. So much loss. His own family. His mother. His sister’s husband. His own brother…and at Nathan’s own hand.
That last one had nearly crushed him when it had appeared. The only thing that had given him the strength to get past that memory was another memory that followed. One of long talks with his sister Miri, many weeks after Eli’s death. She had helped him put his guilt to rest. But he had still carried the bullet that took his brother’s life with him to the grave.
My grave.
Yet another thought that brought unexpected emotions to the surface. He had no memories of his memorial service. After all, he had been dead at the time…so to speak. He had considered asking Vladimir to bring him a vid of the service, but decided to wait until he was stronger.
He knew that Miri was aware that he was still alive. She had seen him in the vid message, although she did not know at the time that it was Connor Tuplo who had sent the message, and not him.
Or was it?
Even Nathan found it confusing. The line that separated his experiences, and those of Connor Tuplo’s, had been quite clear at first. But with each passing moment, it was fading away more and more. He wondered if it was supposed to happen that way. If both sets of memories were supposed to just come together in such fashion.
And there was something else. Something that surprised him even more.
“How are you feeling?” Doctor Sato asked, poking her head into Nathan’s room.
“Better, I think,” Nathan replied. “You tell me.”
“Well, I have reviewed all of your test results with Doctor Chen, and we both agree that you appear to be in decent health.”
“Decent?”
“Well, your physical body has been suspended in a cloning bath for more than a year, so I expect that you will become easily fatigued. This is a common side effect of the cloning and transfer process.”
“What about this disconnected feeling I have?” Nathan asked.
“That too is common. It will pass as well. In fact, the more you use your body, the more quickly your mind will become accustomed to your new body.”
“But, it’s my body,” Nathan said. “Shouldn’t I already be accustomed to it?”
“This body is several years younger than your original, and without any of the previous injuries that you might have suffered during your original lifetime. Such injuries, especially when not properly treated, often lead to reduced range of motion, or other impairments that we tend to ignore over time. It is more pronounced when coming from a much older body to a younger one, but I would expect you to feel it as well.”
“I did get pretty banged up as a kid.”
“Really?” Doctor Sato replied, seeming surprised.
“Defensemen. Ice hockey. Broke a few things over the years.”
“I’m not familiar with the sport.”
Nathan laughed. “Funny, seeing as how you’re from an ice world.”
“You remember Nifelm?”
“Quite clearly, in fact,” Nathan replied. “I’ve never actually been on the surface, but I remember the data readouts like I read them minutes ago. Two hundred and thirty-three degrees Kelvin. PSI of nineteen point one four. Thirty-eight percent oxygen. Fifty-four percent nitrogen…”
“You remember that level of detail?” she asked, astonished. “From more than seven years ago?”
“Yes, and more. It’s weird. I mean, I know it was from a long time ago, but it feels like it just happened. And I don’t mean that it just happened a few weeks or a few months ago. More like a few minutes ago. When the memories hit me, they do so with such clarity, and such detail. It’s difficult to describe.”
“It’s not an uncommon phenomenon after a transference,” Doctor Sato assured him. “Although I don’t remember ever reading about a case where it was with such clarity.”
“Great,” Nathan said sarcastically. “Leave it to me to be the first.”
“I’d like to do some more tests, if you don’t mind.”
“I was really hoping to get out of here. I’ve been cooped up in here for hours, now. I want to walk around, see how the ship has changed. This was my home for two years, you know.”
Doctor Sato thought for a moment. “Perhaps, but you need to take it slow. The more stimuli you have, the more your memories will come flooding into focus. It is standard practice on Nifelm to keep a newly transferred subject in isolation for several days, to allow them to go through the awakening process at their own pace, without it being rushed.”
“I’m not sure we have that kind of time, Doctor,” Nathan reminded her.
“Perhaps not.”
“What kind of tests were you talking about?” Nathan asked. “More scans? More blood?”
“Nothing like that. I was hoping to test your cognition and recall capabilities. Doctor Chen was kind enough to give me your baselines from your last physical, prior to your original body’s untimely demise. I’d like to do a comparison.”
“How long will that take?”
“Hours, I’m afraid. But it need not be done all at once.”
“Then, I can leave this room?”
“Yes, I suppose so. But perhaps you could limit your activities? Maybe find someplace familiar where you could relax a bit?”
“Like where?”
“Maybe aboard the Seiiki?” Doctor Sato suggested. “That would be a familiar place…one that is more recent.”
“Deal,” Nathan said, rising to his feet. He felt unsteady at first, grabbing the bed rail for balance.
“Maybe I should get Jessica back in here to help you?”
“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Nathan agreed. “But do you mind if we take the long way back to the Seiiki?”
* * *
It wasn’t uncommon for the captain of an Alliance ship to have time-delayed messages in his personal queue. Often, important orders were sent ahead of time to ensure that those orders would be received at a specific time. A jump-capable ship, especially a warship, was often unreachable by Fleet Command, as they did not know her exact location.
It was unusual, however, to have one that was not from Fleet Command, but from the captain of another Alliance warship.
Captain Robert Nash, commanding officer of the Alliance destroyer named for the ill-fated world of Tanna, sat staring at his message queue, waiting for that one message to countdown to its intended time of delivering. He had been waiting for this moment for more than a week. At first, he had thought nothing of the message. But when he had received a top secret communiqué from command regarding the mysterious ‘loss of contact’ with the Aurora, he had become suspicious. He had even considered asking his communications officer to try to crack the time-lock on the message, but he decided against it. For whatever reason, Captain Taylor had sent him a private message, likely before disappearing.
What had truly surprised him was that, for some reason, he had chosen not to inform his superiors of the message. Something was going on, and in forty-seven seconds, he expected he would find out exactly what it was.
The timer on the message reached zero, and the color of the message header turned green, indicating that it was unlocked. Robert touched the message header on the screen, and a single sentence appeared in a small box at the center of his data pad.
What was her nickname for you as a child?
No one called Robert anything but Robert, Captain, or Captain Nash. Not Bob, not Bobby, not Robby. Even his mother called him Robert. Only one person was ever allowed to call him by another name.
He keyed in the name Bobert, and pressed enter. It wasn’t much of a security measure, but it was enough. The entire message appeared next, and Robert nearly dropped the data pad. A minute later, he finished reading, and pressed the secure delete link to destroy the message.
Captain Nash leaned back in his chair, in a state of shock. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as his mind raced. Finally, he leaned forward again and reached for the intercom on his desk. “Tactical, Captain,” he called.
“Tactical, aye,” the intercom squawked.
“Status of our recon drones?”
“Four are back, two are still out.”
“ETA to their return?”
“Ninety minutes, and two hours, sir.”
“Drop a redirect buoy for Tau Ceti, patrol sector four seven five mark two, and tell the helm to prepare to jump to same.”
“Aye, sir.”
“What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Jess,” he muttered, leaning back in his chair again.
* * *
Nathan stepped into the main central corridor leading from the Aurora’s medical complex, directly aft toward her main hangar bay.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Jessica wondered, standing next to him, ready to grab him if he lost his balance.
“I walked in here, I can walk out,” he insisted, pausing to straighten up. After a moment of concentration, he began to walk down the corridor, headed aft, one careful step after the next.
Jessica walked next to him, matching his pace perfectly, ready to offer support should he need it.
“Stop it,” Nathan told her under his breath.
“Stop what?”
“Stop hovering over me like I’m a newborn taking his first steps,” Nathan said. “I’ve got this.”
Two technicians came out of a side corridor, turning toward him. They spotted Nathan, and immediately stopped and came to attention.
“Captain,” the senior of the two technicians greeted, offering salutes.
Nathan raised his hand in a rather lazy salute as he continued slowly down the corridor, concentrating on each step in order to avoid losing his balance. Less than a minute later, another crewman appeared, also stopping to salute.
Again, he returned the salute, and then again when two more of the Aurora’s crew appeared.
“Jesus, how does anyone get any work done on this ship, if they’re always stopping to salute each other?” Nathan said under his breath.
“That’s why the Ghatazhak don’t salute,” Jessica replied, as she walked beside him. “That, and because it makes their officers a target.”
“I always wondered why their combat armor didn’t have any rank insignia on them,” Nathan admitted, as he returned yet another salute. “I’ll tell you one thing… I’m going to be an expert at returning unnecessary salutes by the time we get to the Seiiki.”
“We’re going straight there?” Jessica asked. “You don’t want to go anywhere else?”
“At this point, I just want to lie down in my own bed and take a nap.”
“I didn’t realize you were that tired,” Jessica replied.
“I didn’t tell the docs, for fear they’d keep me in medical. I never could sleep in hospital beds.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Nathan stopped and looked at her. “Please, stop asking me that. In fact, tell Cam to issue a ship-wide order for everyone to stop asking me that.” Nathan returned another salute from a passerby. “And for everyone to stop saluting me, for Christ’s sake.”
“Maybe we should take you back to medical,” Jessica suggested.
“Don’t make me order you to take me to my ship,” Nathan replied.
“I don’t take orders from you,” she retorted with a grin. “I take them from Telles.”
“It’s nothing physical,” Nathan explained. “It’s all these memories coming at me. It feels like the pace is accelerating. It’s like I’m fast forwarding through a video of my entire life.”
“Have you gotten to the part where we first met?” Jessica asked, trying to take his mind off his difficulties.
“I’m well past that part,” Nathan replied, as they stepped through the entrance to the main hangar bay. “But I’m planning on coming back to it later,” he added with a smile.
“Yeah, you’re fine.”
Jessica escorted Nathan further into the main hangar bay, then to their left, toward the starboard number two transfer airlock. The door was open, and the Seiiki was parked inside. As large as the airlock was, the Seiiki barely fit within the diameter of its rotating center platform.
“This place has really changed,” Nathan commented, looking around the main hangar bay as they walked toward the Seiiki. He glanced aft, noticing the row of odd-looking, high-wing combat shuttles. “What the heck are those?”
“Reapers, Cap’n,” Marcus replied, coming down the Seiiki’s cargo ramp to greet them. “Sort of like a Falcon and a shuttle, all-in-one.”
“Unusual looking.”
“Down right goofy looking, if you ask me. How are you…?”
Jessica held up her hand, cutting him off. “He’s good. Just a little tired.”
Dalen and Neli were next to appear, coming down the port-side ladder of the cargo bay.
“They’re blocking the…” Nathan paused a moment, allowing his eyes to focus on the far aft end of the massive hangar bay. “There’s no transfer airlocks along the back.”
“A lot has changed on this ship,” Marcus said. “I convinced the deck chief to give me a data pad with the ship’s deck layout. Of course, he had to check with the chief of the boat, who had to check with the XO, who had to check with Captain Taylor.”
“I imagine everyone is going to be overly cautious,” Nathan said, as he started up the ramp. “At least for a while.”
Jessica tried to help him up the ramp, but Nathan pushed her hand away.
“I can make it on my own,” he insisted.
Marcus looked at Neli and Dalen as Nathan passed him, nodding for them to help the captain.
“Good to see you again, Captain,” Neli greeted.
“Good to see you too, Neli… Dalen.”
“What do we call you?” Dalen wondered. “Connor? Nathan? Na-Tan?”
“Definitely not Na-Tan,” Nathan said. “As to the other two, I’ll let you know.” Nathan grabbed the port ladder and started a slow climb up to the catwalk. “For now, Captain will do.”
“You got it, Cap’n,” Dalen replied, positioning himself under Nathan, just in case.
Jessica and Marcus watched silently as Neli and Dalen followed Nathan up the ladder and onto the short catwalk that ran along the side of the Seiiki’s cargo bay.
“Where are Josh and Loki?” Jessica asked, as she watched them disappear through the port companionway hatch leading to the two cabins on the port side.
“Gettin’ the grand tour from some Reaper pilot.”
“Why is the Seiiki in a transfer airlock?”
“Deck chief wanted us out of the way,” Marcus explained. “Apparently the Aurora normally carries two transport shuttles, one in each of these big-ass airlocks.” Marcus nodded toward the open transfer airlock opposite them, on the port side of the main hangar bay.
Jessi
ca turned and looked at the transport shuttle in the other airlock. “Where’s the other one?” she wondered.
“I didn’t ask,” Marcus admitted. “But it appears that this airlock is our home while we’re here. To be honest, I’d just as soon get off this ship…sooner, rather than later. This recharge layover shit stinks. Makes us an easy target.”
“We’re well outside of the Pentaurus sector by now,” Jessica assured him. “And they’re following Loki’s algorithm to avoid pursuit.”
“Still, I don’t much like having our ship locked up inside another.”
“Well, we should catch up to the Glendanon in another twelve hours. In the meantime, you’ll just have to make the best of it. Doctor Chen and Doctor Sato both want to keep Nathan nearby, until they finish their tests. Besides, I’m sure you can cycle out and launch quick enough if the Dusahn find us.” Jessica looked around the main hangar bay. “Where’s Combat One? They didn’t leave, did they?”
“Downstairs,” Marcus replied. “On the hangar deck. You should see it. Fuckin’ huge. They gutted the cargo bays on the sides and opened it up. I’m telling ya… I was this ship’s COB once upon a time, and even I could get lost on her now.”
“Really,” Jessica commented. “I should take a look around.”
“Don’t be surprised if you find a couple security guards following you,” Marcus warned. “They’ve been keeping tabs on all of us since we got here.”
“Good to know,” Jessica replied, heading forward. “Nathan plans on taking a nap,” she called back as she walked away. “Give me a call when he wakes up.”
“Where ya goin’?” Marcus asked, calling after her.
“To find Telles.”
* * *
For the last seven and a half hours, Sori Gullen had sat on the uncomfortable, grated metal floor of the massive cargo pod, where the Ghatazhak rescuers had stuffed her and a couple hundred other prisoners.
